The forecast for sea waves in the METAREA VI is made by the Department of Meteorology at the Naval Hydrographic Service, using the information of the wave model AUSTRAL WAVEWATCH III, according with the implementation made by the Naval Hydrographic Service and the National Weather Service for South Atlantic Ocean based on the model WAVEWATCH III ® (Tolman, 2009) developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).

This Bulletin involves the METAREA VI, according with established by the World Meteorological Organization. Coastal zones are not included.

The update is twice a day, at 09 UTC and at 21 UTC. The wave forecast is valid for the next 24 hours.

The sea wave heights are expressed in meters and distances in nautical miles.

The areas in the reference map have been defined according with the Meteorological forecast for coastal zone and maritime areas of the National Weather Service, with the objective of generate concordance with the forecast sector for METAREA VI.

The areas are defined as follows (the names of the areas remain in Spanish for the correct referentiation with the map in the web site):

RIO DE LA PLATA: From the mouth of Paraná and Uruguay rivers to an imaginary line that goes from Punta del Este in República Oriental del Uruguay (Latitude: 34º 58,062’ South and Longitude: 054º 57,032’ West) to Punta Rasa in República Argentina (Latitude: 36º 17’ 23’’ South and Longitude: 056º 47’ 03’’ West), and the area in the Atlantic Ocean between the two geographical points and 300 nautical miles offshore.

A: Mar del Plata,from 36º17’ South to 38º 30’ South and from the coast to 300 nautical miles offshore.

B: Bahía Blanca, from 38º30’ South to 41º South and from the coast to 300 nautical miles offshore.

C: Península Valdés,from 41º South to 45º South and from the coast to 300 nautical miles offshore.

D: Golfo San Jorge, from 45º South to 48º South and from the coast to 300 nautical miles offshore.

E: Patagonia Sur,from 48º South to 54º South and from the coast to 300 nautical miles offshore.

F: Fin del mundo,from 54º South to 55º South and from the coast to 300 nautical miles offshore.

G: Islas Malvinas.

AREA DRAKE: From latitude 55º South to 60º South and from longitude 67º16’ West to 60º West.

AREA NORTE: From latitude 35º50’ South to 40º South and from eastern boundary of Zones A and B to 20º West.

AREA CENTRO OESTE: From latitude 40º South to 50º South and from eastern boundary of Zones B, C, D and E to 40º West.

AREA CENTRO ESTE: From latitude 40º South to 50º South and from longitude 40º West to 20º West.

AREA SUR OESTE: From latitude 50º South to 60º South and from longitude 60º West to 40º West.

AREA SUR ESTE: From latitude 50º South to 60º South and from longitude 40º West to 20º West.